The Rage That Got Us Here: Reflections on Charlottesville

The Rage That Got Us Here: Reflections on Charlottesville August 13, 2017

redRage is deceptive

seeing vengeance as a cure
for the pain within

It casts blame blindly
it finds the weakest victim
the lazy coward

hurt can not heal hurt
it opens the wound again
clinging to the pain

I wrote these verses this morning because I am still reeling from yesterday. I’m trying to keep the rage at bay. It’s hard.

But I’m recognizing it was rage that got us here in the first place.

People who raged at the loss of jobs, opportunity, and privilege in society. People who raged because they weren’t succeeding and needed someone else to blame. It’s dangerous. Rage is a destroyer because it’s violent and blind.

We all suffer from it. I know I do.

I rage at the traffic when I didn’t plan for enough time to get somewhere. I rage at projects and tasks when they don’t go as well as I hoped.

The danger is when we rage against others. It is here we try to transfer the pain and the blame instead of facing it. This is the hearth in which racism is fanned into flame. It’s like a disease. It spreads so naturally.

This is why I’m on guard against my rage.

I wouldn’t want to try to cast my pain to an easy target. I wouldn’t want to fall prey to the same sin I am condemning. I wouldn’t want to blame “the other” instead of seeking to heal the wound.

Today I am repeating the following mantra to myself…
“this is not a problem with conservatives”
“this is not Trump’s fault”

It is a human problem.
It starts with me.
and it ends
in mercy
peace
love


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